sulfurSalso spelled Sulphurnonmetallic chemical element belonging to the oxygen family (Group VIa of the periodic table), one of the most reactive of the elements.

Known to the ancients (in Genesis it is called brimstone), sulfur was first classified as an element in 1777 by Antoine Lavoisier. It is estimated to be the ninth most abundant element in the universe. In the form of sulfides, sulfates, and elemental sulfur, the element constitutes about 0.03 percent of the Earth’s crust. After oxygen and silicon, it is the most abundant constituent of minerals.

Occurrence, properties, and uses

Native or free sulfur occurs chiefly in volcanic or sedimentary deposits. The former are located throughout the world; the latter are especially common along the U.S. coastal region of Texas and Louisiana. Coal, petroleum, and natural gas contain sulfur compounds. Sulfur-containing ores include such sulfides as pyrite (iron disulfide), galena (lead sulfide), cinnabar (mercury sulfide), sphalerite (zinc sulfide), and chalcopyrite (copper iron sulfide), as well as such sulfates as gypsum (calcium sulfate) and barite or heavy spar (barium sulfate).

Where deposits of sulfur are located in salt domes, as they are along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, the element is recovered by the Frasch process (q.v.). This process has made sulfur of a high purity (up to 99.9 percent pure) available in large quantity and has helped establish sulfur as one of the four most important basic chemical commodities. Wells are drilled from 60 to 600 m (200 to 2,000 feet) into the sulfur formation and then lined with a 6-inch (15-centimetre) pipe in which an air pipe and a water pipe of smaller diameter are concentrically placed. Superheated water, injected into the circular space between three- and six-inch pipes, penetrates the cap rock through holes on the bottom of the pipe. As the sulfur melts, it settles to the bottom of the deposit. From there it is pumped to the surface by applying air pressure through the central pipe. Several such wells operate under the ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico. The sulfur is collected in reservoirs, or sumps, and from there transferred to vats or bins to solidify for storage and stockpiling. Vats may contain as much as 300,000 tons of sulfur.

About 4,000,000 tons of sulphur sulfur are recovered in the United States each year from natural gas, petroleum refinery gases, pyrites, and smelter gases from the processing of copper, zinc, and lead ores. In most cases sulfur is separated from other gases as hydrogen sulfide and then converted to elemental sulfur by the Claus process, which involves the partial burning of hydrogen sulfide to sulfur dioxide, with subsequent reaction between the two to yield sulfur. Another important source is the sulfur dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by coal-fired steam power plants. In the early 1970s techniques to collect this sulfur dioxide and convert it into usable sulfur were developed.

Pure sulfur is a tasteless, odourless, brittle solid that is pale yellow in colour, a poor conductor of electricity, and insoluble in water. The element exists in several different forms, the two most important being the orthorhombic (often called rhombic) and monoclinic crystalline modifications. Rhombic sulfur, which is stable at room temperature, includes the common roll sulfur (or brimstone), flowers of sulfur (a finely divided form obtained by sublimation of vapour directly to a solid upon cooling), and much natural sulfur. Monoclinic, or prismatic, sulfur, which is obtained when liquid sulfur is cooled slowly, consists of long, needlelike crystals. It is stable between 96° C (205° F) and 119° C (246° F), but at room temperature it changes slowly to the rhombic form. When hot molten sulfur is cooled suddenly (as by pouring it into cold water), it forms a soft, sticky, elastic, noncrystalline mass called amorphous, or plastic, sulfur. Although the rhombic and monoclinic forms are highly soluble in carbon disulfide, amorphous sulfur is not.

Compounds

Sulfur forms compounds in oxidation states -2 (sulfide, S2-), +4 (sulfite, SO32-), and +6 (sulfate, SO42-). It combines with nearly all elements. An unusual feature of some sulfur compounds results from the fact that sulfur is second only to carbon in exhibiting catenation—i.e., the bonding of an atom to another identical atom. This allows sulfur atoms to form ring systems and chain structures. The more significant sulfur compounds and compound groups are as follows.

One of the most familiar sulfur compounds is hydrogen sulfide, also known as sulfureted hydrogen, or stinkdamp, H2S, the colourless, extremely poisonous gas responsible for the characteristic odour of rotten eggs. It is produced naturally by the decay of organic substances containing sulfur and is often present in vapours from volcanoes and mineral waters. Large amounts of hydrogen sulfide are obtained in the removal of sulfur from petroleum. It is was formerly used extensively in chemical laboratories as an analytical reagent.

All the metals except gold and platinum combine with sulfur to form inorganic sulfides. Such sulfides are ionic compounds containing the negatively charged sulfide ion S2-2−; these compounds may be considered as salts of hydrogen sulfide. Some inorganic sulfides are important ores of such metals as iron, nickel, copper, cobalt, zinc, and lead.

Several oxides are formed by sulfur and oxygen; the most important is the heavy, colourless, poisonous gas sulfur dioxide, SO2. It is used primarily as a precursor of sulfur trioxide, or sulfur(VI) oxide, SO3, and thence sulfuric acid, H2SO4. It is also utilized as a bleach and an industrial reducing agent. Other noteworthy applications include its use in food preservation and for fruit ripening. See also sulfur oxide.

Sulfur forms a wide variety of compounds with halogen elements. In combination with chlorine it yields sulfur chlorides such as disulfur dichloride, S2Cl2, a corrosive, golden-yellow liquid used in the manufacture of chemical products. It reacts with ethylene to produce mustard gas, and with unsaturated acids derived from fats it forms oily products that are basic components of lubricants. With fluorine, sulfur forms sulfur fluorides, the most useful of which is sulfur hexafluoride, SF6, a gas employed as an insulator in various electrical devices. Sulfur also forms oxyhalides, in which the sulfur atom is bonded to both oxygen and halogen atoms. When such compounds are named, the term thionyl is used to designate those containing the SO unit and the term sulfuryl for those with SO2. Thionyl chloride, SOCl2, is a dense, toxic, volatile liquid used in organic chemistry to convert carboxylic acids and alcohols into chlorine-containing compounds. Sulfuryl chloride, SO2Cl2, is a liquid of similar physical properites properties utilized in the preparation of certain compounds that contain sulfur, chlorine, or both.

Sulfur forms some 16 oxygen-bearing acids. Only four or five of them, however, have been prepared in the pure state. These acids, particularly sulfurous acid and sulfuric acid, are of considerable importance to the chemical industry. Sulfurous acid, H2SO3, is produced when sulfur dioxide is added to water. Its most important salt is sodium sulfite, Na2SO3, a reducing agent employed in the manufacture of paper pulp, in photography, and in the removal of oxygen from boiler feedwater. Sulfuric acid (q.v.) is one of the most valuable of all chemicals. Prepared commercially by the reaction of water with sulfur trioxide, the compound is used in manufacturing fertilizers, pigments, dyes, drugs, explosives, detergents, and inorganic salts and esters.

The organic compounds of sulfur constitute a diverse and important subdivision of organic substances. Some examples include the sulfur-containing amino acids (e.g., cysteine, methionine, and taurine), which are key components of hormones, enzymes, and coenzymes. Significant, too, are the synthetic organic sulfur compounds, among them numerous pharmaceuticals (sulfa drugs, dermatological agents), insecticides, solvents, and agents such as those used in preparing rubber and rayon.